I don't like to write when life is not going well. Kills my creativity, and I get a little whiny, and frankly, no one wants to read an entry on why someone's life sucks. Well, I don't anyways, so why post one? This is not a "Please, pity me" post, simply an explanation of why I haven't posted. I'm not going into detail, I'm simply summing up, as if my readers care. They may, they may not, but I at least feel an explanation is in order.
The last six months have been unpleasant. First I worked 70 hour weeks for longer then I should have, then my job was abruptly gone. Not dealing well with stress, I lost myself in games, as that is my equivalent of drinking myself into a stupor. I managed to get a part-time job, thanks to my Dad, which did not pay enough nor was it particularly pleasant to do, especially considering that during my first week the company announced they would be closing the facility in 3 months. 3 months passed, I managed to make myself useful by just doing my job and trying to do it well, and not letting the juveniles I worked with make my life more difficult then it was. A new job opportunity came up, I took a chance, and now I'm back to working at a rate of pay that I am more comfortable with, and life is looking pretty good again.
So, I am returning to this project, although some of my gaming habits are changing out of necessity to the schedule I work. I work from 3 am to around 11 am most mornings. My children get off the bus at 2:30 pm or so. I go to bed around 7 pm. That leaves me maybe 2-3 hours a day for gaming, if I don't have any other responsibilities that day. I'm a husband and father, I usually have other responsibilities. So, when I find time to game, I put some serious thought into what it is I'm going to play.
MMOs are out, for now. It started with WoW being out, because the one character I play is final raid tier ready, but my guild raids at 8 pm at night my time. Looking at my schedule above, you'll note this is impossible for me. They're a wonderful guild, The Insiders, with some truly neat and good people in it, but alas, I just can't bring myself to level yet another character up just to be able to socialize with the rare member on during the hours I can play. As for the rest of the MMOs, well, I was diving into Rift and leveling up a character there, but the other day, I came to a realization. It was around 1 pm, EST, and the general chat was just full of some of the most ignorant, hateful stuff, and that's when it occurred to me. This is a school day. During school hours for the entirety of the US. These horrid individuals, begging for attention, were adults. I logged out in disgust. Now, I am perfectly aware that not all adult gamers are like that. But enough of us are that it has become something of a stereotype, and one people automatically assume of me when I mention that I'm a gamer and what sort of games I play. So, I'm done with MMOs, for now. LOTRO has a new expansion on the way with some major game changes, and even though they have some of the most hideous character animations in the business, it is a gorgeous game, and one I return to at least once a year.
I'm diving into some games that I have in my back catalog, and some I've picked up recently through sales. I'm focusing on single player games and just working on playing through some. In a couple of weeks I plan on buying Skyrim and letting that take over my gaming life, but until then expect to here my thoughts on whatever I'm playing.
It feels good to be in a place where I feel like writing again.
